


Wise Words

by lazarusthefirst



Category: All For the Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Fluff, M/M, anaesthetic, continues to beat this dead horse, this is nonsense, wisdom tooth removal fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-15
Updated: 2016-09-15
Packaged: 2018-08-15 06:07:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8045251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lazarusthefirst/pseuds/lazarusthefirst
Summary: just your standard regular wisdom teeth removal fic





	Wise Words

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sybilina](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sybilina/gifts).



> my first (relatively) pain-free fic for this pairing! someone call the cops on sybilina for hitting me with this #concept mere minutes before I entered a two hour French class rip 
> 
> Pure, plotless fluff. That good shit.

‘You ever had anaesthetic before?’ Jeremy asked. 

Jean had, many times. ‘It’s just a local,’ he said.

They were lounging around on a Sunday evening in their room. It was a rare moment of peace for the two of them; they’d had practice earlier, then ditched the team outing to take advantage of a free dorm room. Their fledging relationship was still tightly under wraps, mostly at Jeremy’s insistence. He didn’t want to distract the team, he’d insisted, or get the press involved. Jean had enough to cope with, he reasoned to himself, without adding that pressure too. 

‘You ever notice you always answer a question with a question?’

Jean glanced at him. ‘Do I?’

Jeremy grinned. They’d had sex earlier, but when Connor had text them inviting them out to dinner they’d declined and entered Full Cuddle Mode. They were lying in bed, Jean’s head in Jeremy’s lap. His hands were carding through his hair and the late evening sunlight was falling across Jean’s legs. They were warm and rested, and Jean was wondering if they had time for round two. 

‘Seriously though,’ Jeremy said, stretching a little bit and stroking Jean’s cheek. ‘Are you nervous?’

Jean rolled his eyes. He took Jeremy’s hand and kissed his fingers. ‘Of what?’ he murmured. ‘It’s just my wisdom teeth.’ Then he smiled. ‘I think you’re just nervous because you’re going to have to get _yours_ removed too.’

Jeremy grumbled. Coach was so irritated by Jean’s temporary benching that he was having them all examined, so that everyone who needed the removal could get it done in one foul swoop and the whole thing could be over and not “spread out over my goddamn season”. 

‘I have perfect teeth,’ Jeremy said. ‘No one’s touching them.’

‘Sure, sure,’ Jean said, kissing his fingers again. Then he moved up to his wrist, turning on the bed to get a better angle. He pushed Jeremy’s t-shirt up as he did so, smiling at Jeremy’s little murmur of pleasure, and they spent the rest of the evening enjoying one another. 

 

As it happened, the team were queued up to get their wisdom teeth looked at on the day of Jean's appointment. They were also using the time to get their teeth cleaned, and Laila needed a filling, so half the team was milling around the dentist’s office, much to the bemusement of the nurses and other patients. Jeremy had put off his own appointment until the following week, claiming that he had a test coming up that he wanted to be clear headed for, and he was hoping that Coach would just forget about him. 

Jeremy was waiting for Jean to be finished so he could go in and check on him. He knew there was literally nothing to worry about, but Jean was still unsettled at USC and he didn’t want him waking up confused and alone. He’d already asked the nurse if he could see him straight away, and she said that would be a good idea if she could keep him calm and in bed until the worst of the anaesthetic wore off. Unfortunately, some of the others, bored and waiting for their turn in the dentist’s chair, took this as an OK to come see Jean with him.

‘Bonjour,’ Jean greeted them, a wholly un-Jean like smile on his face. He looked distinctly out of it, lying back on the bed with his mouth all swollen. Jeremy felt a protective tug at his heart and moved forward quickly to sit beside him before anyone else could. 

‘How are you feeling?’ he asked, resisting the almost automatic impulse to take Jean’s hand. 

‘Uh, ca va bien,’ Jean replied. He smiled so big at Jeremy that Jeremy couldn’t help but smile back.

After a few minutes, Connor had to ask. ‘Yo, Jeremy. Do you have _any_ idea what he’s saying?’

Jean had, in a drug-fuelled haze, reverted back entirely to French, with only the occasional English word thrown in. He was running his words together even worse than usual, and was almost unintelligible. 

‘Not a word,’ muttered Jeremy, struggling not to blush. He actually did have a pretty good idea what Jean was saying; he’d been teaching him a bit of French, but since they’d gotten together the vocabulary had become fairly specific. Jean smiled up at him, entirely unaware that he was spilling their secret for the whole room to hear, if not to understand. Jeremy hoped the expressions on their faces weren’t enough to tip off their teammates. 

‘J’aime … uh ….’ Jean rubbed his eyes tiredly. ‘Pardon, what is the French for _eyes_?’

Jeremy bit his lip to stop a smile as the others cackled. ‘Les yeux,’ he replied gently. 

‘Oui, oui,’ Jean said, reaching out for Jeremy. ‘J’aime tes yeux.’

Jeremy couldn’t stop himself from smiling at him. It would have been a crime not to indulge him a little. 

‘What was that?’ Alvarez asked, eyes narrowing suspiciously. She wasn’t the only one googling things on her phone. 

‘Nothing,’ Jeremy said. ‘He’s just being silly.’

‘This is the most I’ve ever seen him smile in my entire life,’ Connor confessed.

‘Probably the most he’s ever smiled in his life, too.’

Jean would look at no one but Jeremy. Laila leaned on Alvarez and said ‘He can’t take his eyes off you, Jeremy.’

Jeremy smiled a little. ‘He just knows me the best.’

‘Jeremy,’ Jean said quietly. He was looked a little serious now, so Jeremy leaned in. Quietly, in French, Jean asked him in a solemn tone ‘Where is the rocket ship?’

Jeremy forced back a laugh but couldn’t stop his grin. ‘What rocket ship?’ he replied, sticking to French so as not to confuse him further. 

Jean clutched his sleeve as he explained. ‘The rocket!’ he said. ‘I saw it. Where is it? Did you know that I saw it? Where are we going?’

‘What’s he saying?’ asked Connor. 

‘Those are some strong drugs,’ Jeremy said, leaning back and repeating Jean’s ramblings in English, thinking that Jean was due a little teasing after all. He could handle it now. 

‘The rocket’s taking you back to Mars, Jean,’ Connor joked. ‘Back to where you came from.’

Jean frowned over at Connor’s voice. ‘Who is that person?’ he asked, in very clear English. Everyone cracked up as Connor’s face fell. 

‘You’re just not that memorable, I guess,’ Jeremy said, shrugging. He secretly laid a hand on Jean’s while they were all laughing at Conor, and gave him a little smile. 

‘I do not like it here,’ Jean said, returning to French. He was looking a little off now, finally realising that he perhaps wasn’t making sense. ‘Why are we here?’

Jeremy explained again as best he could in very rudimentary French, but Jean didn’t get it.

‘Who is sick?’ he kept asking. ‘Is he ok?’

‘No, _you’re_ sick,’ Jeremy reminded him. ‘I mean - you’re not sick, but we’re here to see you.’

Jean thought about this, glancing away again and reminding Jeremy about the rocket ship again, before saying ‘No one ever came to visit me in the hospital.’

Jeremy blinked in confusion, briefly wondering if he'd heard wrong - but no, that was definitely the word for hospital. 

‘I had a dream that I was in the hospital,’ Jean clarified, trying to touch his swollen mouth. Jeremy gently pulled his hand away. ‘And then the rocket was there. I don’t know where he was.’

Jeremy didn’t know who “he” was. ‘What colour was the rocket?’ he asked, trying to distract Jean again. 

‘It was flying,’ Jean mumbled. ‘Where is Kevin?’

Jeremy hesitated. He glanced away and saw that Laila had caught the name too. She met his eyes, her own creased with sudden concern.

Jeremy swallowed, and looked back at Jean. He didn’t appear too troubled, but he was looking around now.

‘Kevin’s in the rocket,’ Jeremy said, quietly. 

‘It was flying,’ Jean remembered. ‘And you. Not …’ he trailed off, frowning. ‘Maybe just you,’ he amended. ‘It’s so colourful.’

Jeremy didn’t know what to make of Jean’s little interlude about Kevin, but he had a feeling that being in a medical environment was bringing back some memories for him. Jeremy just hoped it was only temporary, given what he’d already guessed about Jean’s past, and the little he’d been told. 

They had to clear out while Jean was discharged so the nurse could check him one last time. As Jeremy stood up, Jean reached out and took his hand. 

‘Je t’aime,’ he said, looking up at Jeremy. You didn’t need a whole lot of French to understand that one. 

Connor laughed. ‘Aw, Jeremy.’

Jeremy rolled his eyes. ‘He said he likes me,’ he said quickly. ‘Means the same as "I love" in French.’

They filed out without too much fuss, still laughing about the rocket ship. Jeremy looked back and saw Jean watching him, so he quickly blew him a kiss. Jean’s face lit up, and Jeremy blushed all the way out to the waiting room.

Jean insisted on the existence of the rocket ship the whole way home. By the time they got into the dorm, he was stumbling and holding his face. He’d lost his good humour, pushing Jeremy’s hands away when he tried to help. He found his way into bed and passed out for about four hours. Jeremy did homework in the other room and checked in on everyone else still at the dentist's. He enjoyed a 500 second snapchat story of Connor, the only other one booked in for a removal that day, doped out of his mind and trying to count his fingers, convinced that there was one missing. His unhelpful teammates were hysterical in the background. 

Jean stumbled out of bed around dinner time and rested his head on Jeremy’s shoulder for a long time before speaking. 

‘I don’t remember anything,’ he said, voice thick from the swelling.

Jeremy handed him pain pills and a glass of water. ‘You were fine,’ he said, figuring he’d stick to the rocket ship story until the medication kicked in.

‘They didn’t take a video or anything, did they …?’

Jeremy laughed a little, putting his arm around Jean’s waist. ‘Of you? They wouldn’t dare, Jean.’ 

Jean was looking very dejected and low. No doubt he was worried about what he might have said, or maybe some of those bad memories were lingering a little longer than expected. Jeremy kissed his temple and decided he was thoroughly looking forward to coaxing Jean out of the blues. 

Much later, in the middle of the night, Jean said, ‘I’m going to enjoy doing this for you.’

Jeremy smiled, tucking his face into Jean’s neck and running his hands over his smooth back. They hadn’t had sex, but they’d spent the whole night touching, and being quiet and connected together. Jeremy could feel in his heart the weight of Jean’s affection, even if it had only been brought on by the drugs, and all he wanted to do was be with him, in any way Jean wanted. 

‘Maybe I should stay away from you,’ Jean murmured, lips brushing his skin. ‘You might say something incriminating while under the influence.’

Jeremy bit his lip. ’Uh, actually,’ he said. ‘You kind of already let the cat out of the bag on that one.’

Jean pulled back. ‘Wait now, what’s this?’ he asked, in that firm tone of voice. Their legs were tangled together under the sheets and their bodies were pressed together. ‘I did what?’

Jeremy smiled. ‘You, uh - I mean it’s fine, you were speaking French basically the whole time - but you said a lot of things to me. Things that we would probably only say, uh, in bed.’

It was such a shame, Jeremy thought, that there wasn’t enough light in the room for him to see Jean blushing.

‘Oh,’ he said. ‘Was it … very embarrassing, for you?’

Jeremy shrugged. ‘Well, none of them speak French, so - ’

‘No,’ interrupted Jean. He’d gone a little stiff in Jeremy’s arms. ‘I mean - hearing me say those things. I hope that you weren’t … I mean, that you didn’t - ’

A slow smile tugged on Jeremy’s lips, and he pulled Jean in closer to him.

‘No,’ he murmured, kissing him. ‘I will never not love hearing you say things like that to me.’

They got lost in each other for a while, and Jeremy took the time to say a few things of his own to Jean. Later, Jean said, ‘So maybe I should stay away from you, then. Just in case.’

Jeremy didn’t like the sound of that. ‘Nah,’ he said, resting his head on Jean’s chest. ‘I got this. I’ve already seen you go through it, so I know what to expect.’

‘They’re _very_ strong drugs,’ Jean warned him, sounding doubtful. ‘Are you sure you won’t - ’

’Trust me,’ Jeremy said. ‘I mean, I don’t actually want to say anything stupid while you’re there, but - ’

‘That never usually bothers you.’

Jeremy slapped him gently for that, and delighted in the feeling of Jean’s laughter rumbling in his chest beneath him. ‘I’ll be fine,’ he said firmly, when Jean quieted. ‘I want you there. Those assholes will be trying to get me to say dumb stuff. You have to protect me.’

‘I can’t say no to that,’ said Jean sleepily, wrapping his arms around Jeremy and rolling them on to their sides. 

‘Go to sleep,’ Jeremy told him, already with his eyes closed, warm and safe against Jean’s chest. 

 

Coach did not, unfortunately, forget about Jeremy. He marched him down to the dentist’s office two weeks later much to the amusement of the entire team, who all turned up to watch the carnage. Jean, despite Jeremy’s insistence that he stay close, hung back until he knew just how high Jeremy was flying. 

‘Moreau, he’s asking for you,’ Tori said as she passed him on her way out. She was already grinning at whatever video she’d taken, and Jean suddenly felt an absurd urge to get in there and make them all go away. He pushed his way in, ignoring the looks and grins he was getting. 

Jeremy was sitting up in bed, flushed and with chipmunk cheeks. He was fucking adorable, Jean thought helplessly, as Jeremy spotted him. 

‘Jean,’ he said, sounding triumphant. ‘My boyfriend.’

There was a beat, and then Jean covered his face with his hand as the room exploded with laughter and cheering. His shoulders shook with suppressed laughter, because he should have known Jeremy would blow it.

‘Five minutes, Jeremy,’ he said wryly, shaking his head. ‘You couldn’t keep it in for _five minutes_ …’

‘He’s literally not stopped talking about you since we came in,’ Connor said, clapping him on the shoulder. ‘As if we didn’t already know. Everyone’s seen _Amélie_ enough to know what “Je t’aime” like that really means.’ 

‘What? What?’ Jeremy was asking plaintively, a little crease between his eyebrows, and Jean was instantly drawn to his side.

‘It’s ok, Jeremy,’ he said kindly, taking his hand. ‘Hey, you did good. You’re amazing.’ He smiled as Jeremy beamed at him. ‘I mean, you gave us away, but it’s ok, mon cher.’

Jeremy held his hand and told him all about a railroad under the sea, asked multiple times “what time is first serve?”, proving that even under the influence of anaesthetic all Jeremy truly could think about was Exy, and every so often he’d pause and smile and say Jean’s name very softly. Alvarez kept trying to record it but missed every time. 

‘Jean,’ he said solemnly. ‘I’m really bad at French.’

Jean snorted as the others whipped out their phones again. ‘That’s ok,’ he said. ‘You’re not being tested on any of this.’

Jeremy frowned. ‘But last night you said - ’

‘Jeremy no,’ Jean said hurriedly, shushing him, feeling a flush rising on the back of his neck as he remembered their little game that was just for fun and absolutely nobody else’s business. 

‘What? Jeremy, what were you going to say?’ Alvarez demanded. There were too many damn phones in the room.

‘Jeremy,’ Jean whispered, taking his hands. ‘Please, ssh.’ He kissed the backs of his hands and widened his eyes at him. ‘Please, don’t. Please.’

Jeremy was smiling at all the commotion, blissfully oblivious of the significance as everyone clamoured for him to continue, and just happy to be holding Jean's hands. Eventually he ended the excitement by saying admitting pleasantly ‘I don’t remember’, and everyone groaned and threw in the towel. Jean couldn’t kiss him for fear of Jeremy kissing back and hurting his sore mouth, so instead he kissed his own fingertips and put them to Jeremy’s lips. 

‘You know,’ Connor said as they walked Jeremy out. ‘Like, it ain’t even weird seeing you two holding hands. It’s like, oh yeah, they weren’t doing that before.’ 

‘Thanks,’ Jean said dryly. 

‘Are we taking the underwater road or the, eh, the other one?’ Jeremy asked, sounding a little confused. He leaned on Jean while they waited for Laila to bring the car around. 

‘Well, which would you prefer?’ Jean asked him. 

‘Just regular, I think,’ Jeremy said, rubbing his forehead against Jean’s shoulder. ‘My head hurts so we shouldn’t look at the fish today.’

‘Makes sense,’ Jean said. 

‘Maybe tomorrow?’ Jeremy asked. 

‘We could do it tomorrow, yeah.’

Alvarez managed to get that little exchange on video, but decided to keep it for a rainy day, or until they got married. Whichever came first.

**Author's Note:**

> Sincerely, a girl who has watched too many of those post-wisdom teeth removal videos
> 
> I'm on [tumblr](http://thetrojeans.tumblr.com/) and [twitter](http://twitter.com/lazarusthefirst/)


End file.
